American Regional Intelligence, 9th Division
American Regional Intelligence, 9th Division, also known as ARI 9D, was a division of the intelligence agency located within the United States. Created by the Central Intelligence Agency in 1948 as a result of Cold War clashes, ARI 9D was based in Celebus, New Jersey and operated within the whole of New England to prevent Communist threats from materializing. Modernization efforts on the Dominal Base during the leadership of Mack Soeby integrated ARI 9D into the framework of the secret base in 1974, allowing the two entities to exchange information and material services. The agency became defunct in 2015 after being attacked after pursuing the search and capture of Gregory Court, as well as the elimination of the rebel Celtican Army. History Early Years The Cold War forced American intelligence services to revamp the surveillance system and upgrade it. Trashing more modern proposals, the state of New Jersey agreed to a proposal for a new spying agency in the mountainous region known as Mountain Ridge, a few miles northwest of Celebus. This agency, established on July 2, 1948, consisted of a complex of buildings that worked on surveillance and intelligence operations nationally, with direct links to Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, in August 1952, upon completion of the line to the capital, a domestic sector was created, with a direct link to the shoreline via Celebus. A series of secret tunnels were built underground through Moltoz and then to the residential sector of Celebus. In this way, the only entrance to the facilitates was through Mayflower Park, about four streets from the local high school, which was built five years later in 1957. To prevent suspicion from the local Celebus townspeople, ARI disguised the complex of buildings as a massive Cadillac factory. On the surface, the factory pumped out an average number of vehicles per year, but underneath the facility was a ring of intelligence offices and bunkers. The agency - named the American Regional Intelligence (ARI) 9th Division - was focused on domestic affairs, such as Communist threats inside the country and terrorism that had been linked to the Israeli-Arab War in 1967. In the 1970's, the complex was revamped near Mayflower Park to include more space and efficiency. As a result, the 9th Division's underground tunnel system intruded on the Alternate Dimension Zone, linking the agency with the Dominal Base. Integration Tensions with the Celtican Army escalated upon the ascension of Nicholas Bedford, who took a conservative role in stopping what he deemed a "terrorist organization." Up until 1993, ARI 9D had dealt with external threats, such as those posed by aggressive or spiraling bases. In a few cases in the 1960s and 1970s, ARI had been a useful service in recruiting new members of the Dominal Base. Bedford introduced restrictive limitations on Celtican expression on November 4, 1992, alienating most soldiers on the base who believed that free speech should still be protected, despite extremist attacks. On January 12, 1993, Bedford introduced an executive order that forced ARI 9D to track down Celtican soldiers hidden on the base and root out any underground movement that would undermine his presidency. In late June 1992, after months of following coordinated Celtican movements, an underground movement was found out by ARI 9D. The Director of the agency alerted Dominal authorities and on July 3, 1993, the movement fragmented with multiple arrests. The captures of powerful Celtican leaders, such as Liza Montag and Charles, were hailed as a major success for the Bedford pesidency. Another ARI success came in March 1994. After the new Commander of the Celtican Army, Gregory Court, declared on an anonymous video that Celtica would pursue a revolution to oust Nicholas Bedford, agents tracked down his hiding spot in a bunker on Sector 2. On March 25, a special forces raid on the bunker led to the deaths of 49 Celtican rebels and forced Court and thousands of other Celtican soldiers to flee the entire Dominal Base. Upon the Court Revolution on October 23, 1994, Gregory Court commandeered the ARI facility on Sector 3. The false flag operation and subsequent massacre in January 1999 provided a justifiable basis for the reorganization of ARI 9D. In August 1999, ARI 9D was dedicated to seeking out "possible" vigilantes and anti-authority suspects on the base. Final Years After the Dream State Incident in May 2011, ARI 9D was put on high alert, as dream state mechanics hadn't been utilized on a high-scale grid before. The Presidents of the Dominal Base warned the intelligence organization that it could be either their older brother, Gregory Court, looking for revenge. The Director immediately placed Court on the high-risk list. However, the shootout in December 2011 by Mark Wade confirmed to many in ARI's top intelligence circle that Wade was the perpetrator of the Dream State Incident. The reasoning was that Wade, a former Dominal soldier, had suffered a psychotic break and committed the heinous acts of 2011. Ultimately, however, Wade showed up at Sector 1 of the Dominal Base in September 2013, two weeks after the end of the Autumn's War, and pointed the blame at Gregory Court. ARI 9D thus searched for a candidate in the Celebus community that could serve as a link to the outside. They chose the 18-year-old Jim Holt, the son of deceased Dominal operator William Holt. Intelligence reports in July 2014 indicated that there was increased construction efforts localized around the Celebus Lighthouse on the shoreline, but any efforts to specify these reports hit a dead-end. ARI recruited multiple Dominal operators to apprehend Jim Holt and lead the investigation. Holt was picked up on October 22, 2014, a day before Operation Rocket Jet Fuel took place. The overwhelming presence of the United States Army prevented further ARI intervention. After the events of Operation Invisible Medicine in November 2015... Leadership